Page 51 of The Key to the Last House Before the Sea

NESSA

An hour after Gabriel’s abrupt departure, Nessa arrived at Valerie’s to pick up Lily and take her to school.

Her head was still buzzing after her conversation with Gabriel. And she couldn’t help feeling sad that he’d turned down art college in favour of destroying precious buildings. That didn’t seem to be a life choice destined to promote contentment.

Plus, the tune to ‘Happy Birthday’ had become an earworm that was driving her mad. ‘Stop,’ Nessa said out loud as she stood outside Valerie’s front door. ‘Stop thinking about that man, for goodness’ sake.’

She smoothed down her T-shirt, and wiped her mouth to get rid of any toothpaste traces. But there was nothing she could do about her hair, which was an unruly thick frizz. It turned out that washing your hair over a bucket wasn’t ideal.

When Nessa pressed the bell, there was an immediate pounding of feet.

‘Mummy!’ squealed Lily, flinging open the door and throwing herself into Nessa’s arms.

Nessa knelt down, squeezed Lily tight and took a deep breath. She loved Lily’s fresh, sweet smell and it was a welcome change from the smell of old stone and fresh paint that permeated the cottage.

‘Mummy, look!’

Lily disentangled herself from the hug and pulled Nessa into the hall. A pair of shiny pink ankle boots, scattered with gold stars, were sitting at the foot of the stairs.

‘Look at my new shoes. They’re a present from Granny and Grampy.’

‘Wow.’ Nessa stooped to look more closely at the boots.

She didn’t like to imagine how much these bright creations had cost. She could never have afforded them.

‘That was very kind of Granny and Grampy,’ she said, straightening up.

‘And this!’ declared Lily, doing a twirl in her school uniform. ‘Look at my hair.’

When Nessa gently ran her fingers across her daughter’s head, she noticed a diamanté bee attached to a grip. It looked pretty, holding Lily’s thick hair back from her face.

‘Was that from Granny too?’ asked Nessa, ashamed by the vague resentment she was feeling. Valerie was kind to shower Lily with gifts, but it would all end when Lily came back to live with her.

‘Yes, Granny bought it for me in the gift shop.’

‘Well, that’s very nice of Granny,’ said Nessa, vowing not to be mean-spirited. It was wonderful that Lily had loving grandparents who could afford to spoil her.

On cue, Valerie came out of the kitchen, in black trousers and full make-up.

‘Oh, you’re here already,’ she said, giving Nessa a searching glance. Nessa smoothed down her hair, hating that she felt faintly intimidated. ‘Lily slept well and has eaten lots of breakfast, haven’t you, love?’

Lily nodded vigorously. ‘I had chocolate cornflakes and fizzy orange. It was ’licious.’

Nessa’s smile faltered. She tried to get some proper fruit into Lily at breakfast time, but she pulled back her shoulders and kept on smiling. Grandparents were renowned for spoiling their grandchildren. And Valerie was doing her a huge favour right now.

‘Here’s your lunch, sweetheart,’ said Valerie, pushing what looked like a new lunchbox into Lily’s school backpack.

‘I can pick Lily up later and give her tea before bringing her back,’ said Nessa, already looking forward to it.

‘Oh, there’s no need,’ replied Valerie. ‘Lily’s going home with Clara for tea, and Clara’s mum has kindly said she’ll drop her back later. You could call in for a short while after that, if you like. As long as you don’t get Lily too excited before bedtime. We wouldn’t want that, would we?’

She smiled, but that didn’t take the sting out of her words. Though Lily had only just moved in, Nessa was starting to feel surplus to requirements in her own child’s life.

‘Come on then, Lily,’ said Valerie. ‘You’d better get your new boots on or you’ll be late.’

When Lily sat on the bottom stair and started pushing her feet into her new boots, Nessa caught Valerie’s eye and said quietly:

‘I think Lily had better save those for after school.’

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